47th SHOT Show!

 
TSRA Executive Director, John Poole at the 2025 SHOT Show.
TSRA PHOTO/JOHN POOLE

The 47th SHOT Show is going on now!

Started in 1979 in St. Louis, SHOT stands for Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade. The show is owned by the NSSF and has primarily been held in Las Vegas since 2010. No other city has hosted more, and this year marks the 26th Vegas show.

The show is held at The Venetian, which puts it outside of the City of Las Vegas’ jurisdiction. We contacted the City of Las Vegas for a welcome message to share with our members, and while they hope everyone has a great time, the event is held in unincorporated Clark County. TSRA has reached out to Clark County for a comment.

Four years ago, the show was expanded from the Venetian Expo to include the Caesars Forum. This has allowed a substantial increase in companies due to the total booth space of over 380,000 net square feet.

The event brings in over $88 million in non-gaming revenue to the Las Vegas economy, with attendees from over 100 countries joining as exhibitors, buyers, and media. The show is so large that over 2,500 members of the media cover it.

The show will run until Friday and last year the total attendance was over 55,000. TSRA Executive Director, John Poole, is there on behalf of our organization. John shared insight on the first few days of the event.
 

TSRA Executive Director, John Poole at the 2025 SHOT Show. 
 TSRA PHOTO/JOHN POOLE
 
What have the first few days been like?
Days 1 and 2 were whirlwinds. Meeting, talking, and hopefully making business connections for the TSRA. Even when I do not get the connection I hope for, I am still educating people about who we are and what we do. There are around 55-60,000 attendees and another 12,000 exhibitors. It’s a sea of people and products.
 
 
SHOT Show 2025 Opening Day
SHOT Show/https://shotshow.org/newsroom/
 
What is your hope for TSRA in connection with SHOT Show this year?
A combination of business and advertising meet and greets. First, I have to educate who we are and what we do. I share how their business would benefit from a connection with TSRA. They get to have their company or product introduced to all TSRA members and more. A company's support for us is through advertising or donations. Companies can donate a product to TSRA for us to use in our Summer Sweepstakes or one of our many other products.

What does your schedule look like while there?
Every day is a new section of Shot Show. There is 3 million square feet of booths and displays. If I get to walk every aisle, there are 13.6 miles of walking just to get to everything. Of course, it will be impossible to talk to every vendor or exhibitor, so I try to find a strategy to talk to anyone Texas. I let them know we are there, and that in Texas we are a big reason they can have a great business in anything 2A-related.
 
 
 
Have you met anyone interesting so far?
Not that I am pandering to everyone, but so far everyone is very cool. One standout was a German parts manufacturer I met standing in line for a $6.50 bottle of water. Sheesh! We exchanged pleasantries and talked about what we do. He was amazed that an association like ours exists. He had of course heard of the NRA, but did not think that states were allowed to have such organizations.

He said in Germany they have local shooting clubs, but nothing is allowed at their regional levels. He was quite interesting. Neither of us was the supporter or business connection we were looking for at this event. But, talking to a like-minded firearms person and a former competitor, who envied what the TSRA is...that was a good conversation.
 
SHOT Show 2025
SHOT Show/https://shotshow.org/newsroom/
Story by Marissa Brinkman (sportsman@tsra.com)
January 23, 2025